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Strategic Communications Research Guide

Google Scholar Search

Citation Resources

 APA Style Guidelines

 

 Organize your sources using Zotero

ZoteroBib:

Finding Sources

Also known as "Scholarly Articles,", "Peer-Reviewed Articles," or "Academic Articles," these are:

  • Written and reviewed by scholars and provide new research, analysis, or information about a specific topic.
    • "Review" means the article is approved by other experts before publication
  • Usually focused on a narrow subject or a single case study
  • Intended for an academic audience

Why You Should Use Them:

  • Information is based on research and expertise
  • Information is detailed and focused on a narrow topic
  • The peer-review process (mostly) insures that the information is accurate
  • They add to a growing understanding of a topic by contributing new ideas

Find Communications and Marketing Articles:

Google Scholar Search

Find Additional Communication Databases & Resources:

We can't list all of the amazing Communications resources that are out there. But we have linked to a lot of them on our Communications Databases & Resources page. So if you need more, check it out!

General Databases:

Access All Databases:

Use these resources to find newspaper articles.

Why You Should Use Them: 

  • May be considered a primary source if written at the time an event occurred
  • May include eyewitness or firsthand accounts of events
  • Frequently include other primary source objects like photographs, editorials, political cartoons, letters to the editor, advertisements, etc.

Find Newspaper Articles:

Elon offers complete digital access for several newspapers and magazines. Simply create a free account at whichever you like best (or all of them!). Make sure to use your Elon email address.

Find Additional Newspapers:

Polls and surveys are a type of data collected from specific populations. Poll and survey questions gather information, preferences, choices, or opinions from these populations. In historical research, they may provide information about social, political, or national issues during specific time periods or from geographic regions.

Be sure to speak with a librarian if you don't find what you need. They will be able to suggest other sources of information to help you with your research needs.

Find Polls & Surveys:

Books written by scholars are a good source of information for many topics. 

Why You Should Use Them:

  • Written on a broad subject
  • Easier to read than journal articles, and written for a broad audience
  • Often undergo a peer-review process
  • May contain a collection of chapters written by different authors
  • Contain less recent information, due to the lengthy publication process

Remember: you may only need to read one chapter of a scholarly book!

Find Books:

  • Search Belk Library's online system to find both library materials and articles in our databases. Use the search box below to do a basic search on library materials and databases.

 

Interlibrary Loan: